


false ribs

by swallows (toska)



Category: Persona 4
Genre: F/M, Genderswap, among other things, and there are hints of sex, because these characters are hot, corrupt!souji, fem!souji seta - Freeform, genderbent, in which 'i like them roughed up a little bit fucked up if that can be arranged', in which it isn't really love but it has the potential to be, maybe occ?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-18
Updated: 2013-02-18
Packaged: 2017-11-29 17:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/689406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toska/pseuds/swallows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“One's ribs shouldn't be prison bars.” fem!souji/adachi- in which it's only just a social link.</p>
            </blockquote>





	false ribs

**Author's Note:**

> standard disclaimers apply
> 
> psst: eva, i used the name you used for your fem!souji- i hope you don't mind!

 

 

 

  
**False Ribs**  
“One's ribs shouldn't be prison bars.”  
― David Mitchell, _The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet_  
.

The first time he sees her, he’s not sure if it’s the booze or the look in her eyes that makes him think she’s special. She’s got aristocratic features he notices, with hair pale and lips, a soft pink (and suddenly he can see her lips, swollen from his insistent kisses, bruised with his nips and bites and forces himself to look away for a moment.)

He thinks that was strike one.

.

The second time he sees her, it’s at Junes— (she’s clutching a pomegranate in her hands, absentmindedly responding to the rather enthusiastic speeches of that Junes Boy and it doesn’t escape his notice how she quickly notices him and how quickly that Junes Boy’s speech flaunters.)

It’s getting harder to hide his smirk, he notices.

“Hello Shizue-chan!” He says, his smile widening at the Junes Boy’s flinch. Seta didn’t even bat an eyelash at the close entitlement, just nods in response.

Silence resides between them two, with the Junes Boy— the Hanamura brat, he finally recalls — hovering around them, like a worried mother.

Seta doesn’t talk much, and he wonders if she’s going to be a doormat housewife to this Hanamura kid, and he can see it so perfectly that he gags a bit inside. He can see her greeting Hanamura at the door with a kiss, cooking dinner, cleaning the house, having a few brats and the rest of the fucking life story and he wishes that it isn’t true.

Seta has the potential to be different; he knows this by her hands.

Seta’s hands aren’t like other girls’ hands— they are roughed and calloused and he’s intrigued. They aren’t soft and dainty, and her grip isn’t so shabby either. He wonders how her hands ended up this way, how her grip ended up so strong, despite her soft and feminine appearance.  
She could probably break the Hanamura brat’s neck, he laughs.

Seta looks at him questioningly and all he can do is shake head and smile.

.

Strike three and he’s out.

Seta works at the pub at night, he’s learned.

“How do you think Hanamura would react if he knew you worked here for money? I’m sure if you asked, he could give you a job at Junes, no questions asked.” He asked her once.

“I don’t need him to support me or take care of me, besides—” she pauses and stares at him for a moment, “I don’t need a man to rule my life. This isn’t my only job y’know— it’s not just you adults who have to work hard.”

If he was anyone else, but Adachi Tohru, he realizes that this is the point where he’d find himself in love or some shit with Seta and have his tongue shoved down her throat in a spur of the moment kiss.

But he’s Adachi Tohru and a part of him wants to pin her on the ground or up against the wall and just fuck her, till she realizes that he can rule her life.

He finds himself downing a drink instead and telling her not to tell her Uncle that he’s been slacking off on the job.

She for the most part, just smiles.

.

“Are you okay being out here in the sticks?” he asks her once, while she was waiting for the bus to take her to her job at the hospital.

“It’s just another temporary home,” she says, “I’ll be gone, within a year— no point in complaining or being against it.”

He’s silent after that, only lightening up a cigarette.

She shuffles her feet, staring at the sky absentmindedly, only looking down to see if the bus would show up.

And they just sat there, watching the smoke filling the sky.

It was nice.

.

The first time he invites her to his home, is to let her cook him dinner.

And it’s nice having a girl in his kitchen, cooking him something else besides nimono.

It’s silent while they eat.

He finds himself a bit unnerved by her, and a part of him finds this girl to be fucking creepy, watching him and with her silence. Sometimes she reminds him of a doll, but this girl is full of contradictions and fucking juxtapositions.

He finds himself irritated at his inability to keep up.

And even though their social rank has leveled up, and he’s closer to this girl— he gets the feeling that she’s not really there.

.

 

He’s not sure who’s fucking with who anymore.

He knows it’s her, her inside the TV saving their lives and he scoffs at Namatame, losing to a girl, a sixteen year old girl who has gotten damn lucky too many times to count.

Namatame is an idiot, and he wonders why he even bothered with him at all.

And Seta—

—Seta’s just another social link.

(or so he likes to think, but he knows that she, him and namatame are all connected and are the big three in this game of life and death. the thing is he’s not sure who’s who anymore—

they are all monsters here).

.

Seta can’t take a fucking compliment, he learns.

“I used to live in Tatsumi Port Island for a while,” he says after a moment’s silence between them. “I was a junior officer then, and just fresh from the force. And back then, there were those strange occurrences going on with people, and it was all sorts of fucked up.”

Truthfully, he doesn’t like to remember it, but still he speaks.

“There was this girl who would come to the station every week, I never got much of a chance to talk to her, but her eyes. They remind me of yours, Seta.”

“Was that a love confession or a fucking heart to heart? Because I’m not seeing the point here,” Seta replies.

“You are so bad at receiving compliments Seta. But you have strong eyes.” His expression softens a bit, as he continues, “I can respect that.”

Her lips quirk up a bit, and he smiles back.

.

“That Mitsuo kid is fucked up.” He says one evening.

“He’s human, of course he’s fucked up,” she replies taking the box of cigarettes from his suit pocket along with his lighter. The act is so intimate that it initially startles him at first, before he shakes his head and carries on with his response.

“Don’t lecture me about the human condition,” he says.

“Don’t waste my time, lecturing me about boys,” she retorts.

“Oh?” he raises and eyebrow and watches her scowl, “You’re just leading them all on. If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were a—”

“—it’s not like you’re any fucking better,” Seta snaps. “I’m not fucking blind, I see the way you look at me sometimes. You are no better than them. “

“But why do you keep them around, keep me around? I’m not like them, following you around like some lost puppy.”

It’s silent for a moment.

“No you’re not,” she finally says.

“You’re worse.”

And all he could do was smile at her.

.

In the end it’s Nanako, who brings out the best, the worst in Seta.

It’s Nanako, who brings out the best in him.

(He finds Seta all mangled and rotten after Nanako’s admitted into the hospital, and finds Seta not to be the same girl from all those months ago. He finds her and she pulls him for a kiss, and drags him to the living room. She’s still has that strong grip, perhaps even stronger from hanging out in the TV world and holding those swords. He’s being straddled my her on the couch and every fiber of his being wants to switch the positions and just fuck her, but he restrains.

He finds it more fun to bait her.

“You’re quite a promiscuous girl, Seta.”

“As if you’re any better,” she replies, before placing her mouth to his throat, teething scraping against his flesh— marking him.

“What would Hanamura say if he found us like this, Seta? What would your team say?” He begins to grate, hoping to see a flash of anger, for an inflammatory range of emotions, for blood, for her blood.

“I would tell them to fuck off.” She says, but he finds her getting off him and smoothing out her rumpled shirt and straitening her skirt.

He finds himself licking his lips in anticipation for the next time they meet).

.

“This isn’t a love story.” She says.

“It never was, we’re too selfish too love, remember?” He laughs.

They are in bed, in his apartment, her bare legs against his pants, her body over his. Her fingers are running through his hair, and he’s absentmindedly tracing circles on her skin.

“You are just another social link,” she whispers into the pillow.

“Save the pillow talk for someone who cares, princess.” He says, before placing his lips on hers.

(later when she’s gone, with just the faint traces of her perfume remaining he whispers that mantra in his head. _She’s just another social link. She’s just another social link. She’s just another social link. She is just another social link. Another—_ )

.

He’s there when she finally snaps.

She knows that it is him.

He knows it.

“It’s always been you, right from the start.” She says.

“This isn’t a love story,” he repeats those words, and she recoils as if he’s slapped her in the face. The unspoken words are still there, _it could have been_.

“This is wrong,” she states.

“You’re just another social link,” she repeats.

“So are you,” he echoes back, “But you understand don’t you Seta? You see where I’m coming from; I’m just a city boy looking for a little fun. We’re out here in the boonies, making this town come alive. We’re doing this shithole a favor if you ask me. Come on, the real world? It’s boring as fuck. Even towns like Tatsumi Port Island lose their wonder if you are there long enough. This human condition— we’re all The Lost. You, me, Dojima, the whole cast and crew of this game we call life. So join me, have some fun.”

“So what will you do?” he questions.  
He extends his hand; she takes a deep breath and begins walking—

.

Seta has always had a strong grip, he realizes. Whether it be her beliefs or his hand, he knows that no matter what she picks, she’ll be reaching out to the truth.

Fin.

**Author's Note:**

> this was kind of hard, with adachi's character- but i really wanted to take time to explore him so i hope i kept him in character or did a good job trying and i might just do more works in this verse. if adachi was a better man it might have developed into love, because he's not the type to fall in love. but maybe lust. and i left the ending open-ended for you guys, but i might do separate endings later- we'll see about that. 
> 
> just tell me what you guys think? i'm curious to hear your opinions on it!


End file.
